do all E36 M3's have boot spoilers & badges?

[dylan0451]

went to see a '94 non evo m3 yesterday. wasn't quite as immaculate as described with rust bubbbling up on all the arches, but otherwise ok, with the dealer agreeing to have the arches professionally sorted if i bought.

i did notice, though, that it had no boot badge or spoiler. it had m3 foot plates, wheel, sunflowers and definately went well, though i'm wondering if there's anything fishy with the lack of m badge on the boot?

oh, and the aircon didn't blow cold until on the move at slightly higher revs. possible big bill?

[Smike]

dylan0451 said:

oh, and the aircon didn't blow cold until on the move at slightly higher revs. possible big bill?

What was the external temp on the test drive?

[Cactussed]

No they don't.
Mine has a spoiler, no badge.
I've seen a few without either.

[paoloh]

Not all M3s came with spoiler.

Badges are a deleteable item but of course may not have been replaced after a paint job but you are looking at an older car, so some paintwork is not a bad thing if done well.

[dylan0451]

ok. i quote like the ones with the spoiler and badge but also like the anonymity of the lack of badge. being as it was the first e36 i've ever driven i wanted to make sure it wasn't a badged 328

aren't the footwells/pedal box small! i felt like a giant initially trying to avoid using the footrest to change gear!

Smike said:

dylan0451 said:

oh, and the aircon didn't blow cold until on the move at slightly higher revs. possible big bill?

What was the external temp on the test drive?

well, it was above 0 as there was no ice on the roads, but pretty damn cold! i was thinking either loose belt or worn compressor? though i assume the condenser radiator needs airflow for it to work?!

[varsas]

Easiest way to tell if it's a proper M3 is to see if it has an oil temp gauge or an mpg gauge under the rev counter. M3's have an oil temp gauge, others do not. The engines also look quite different, you can see the separate throttle bodies on an M3 quite clearly.

In my experience of a couple of cars, the air con on 3 series is rubbish. And yes it doesn't work until you rev the engine, 2500rpm or so. I spent £000's trying to get mine fixed and, despite being told it's working correctly, it's still naff.

Some people have trouble with the pedal/wheel offset others (like me) don't notice. Apparently the saloons are different. I have size 10 feet and it's fine, of course the throttle and brake need to be close together to enable heel/toe down changes.

Edited by varsas on Monday 6th December 15:35

[Smok3yMcPot]

varsas said:

In my experience of a couple of cars, the air con on 3 series is rubbish. And yes it doesn't work until you rev the engine, 2500rpm or so. I spent £000's trying to get mine fixed and, despite being told it's working correctly, it's still naff.

Same here. I could never get my aircon going properly on my M3. Thinking of deleting whole system to save weight as im not too fussed about it anyway.

[g3org3y]

Not all have spoilers (tbh, I think the coupe looks better without) and the badge delete was a no cost option.

dylan0451 said:

ok. i quote like the ones with the spoiler and badge but also like the anonymity of the lack of badge. being as it was the first e36 i've ever driven i wanted to make sure it wasn't a badged 328

Look for one of these under the bonnet:

Edited by g3org3y on Monday 6th December 15:39

[varsas]

^^ Look at those manifolds...gorgeous. Proper engine!

[Smike]

dylan0451 said:

Smike said:

dylan0451 said:

oh, and the aircon didn't blow cold until on the move at slightly higher revs. possible big bill?

What was the external temp on the test drive?

well, it was above 0 as there was no ice on the roads, but pretty damn cold! i was thinking either loose belt or worn compressor? though i assume the condenser radiator needs airflow for it to work?!

Was the external temp sensor working do you know? If the external ambient temp was below 4 deg C ( it was round here, I don't know about where you were ), I don't think the compressor will get engaged to save the system icing up.

[htid]

Mine has no spoiler and looks cleaner without a lump of metal just stuck on there in my opinion. Also another thing to check that not many people would bother to change if trying to replicate is the needles on the dash. M3 ones are red where as in a 328 for example they are white. As said before the M3 has the oil temp guage and the 328 had an mpg gauge.

Also beware of ''The air con just needs a re-gas mate''. More than likely it needs a new condensor and the cost will be more like £300-400 to sort out.

Edited by htid on Monday 6th December 16:04

[g3org3y]

htid said:

Mine has no spoiler and looks cleaner without a lump of metal just stuck on there in my opinion. Also another thing to check that not many people would bother to change if trying to replicate is the needles on the dash. M3 ones are red where as in a 328 for example they are white. As said before the M3 has the oil temp guage and the 328 had an mpg gauge.

In addition the dials should have a little ///M (although easily copied).

Other points to note - 'vader' seats (unless a cabriolet) and if the exhaust is standard the more medial pipe should protrude a little further the follow the line of the rear diffuser.

[dylan0451]

here's our car in question: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/classifieds/2292765.h...

i didn't notice whether it had red needles or an oil temp where the mpg normally is - the only time i looked at the dash was upon realising the scenery was going past rather quickly, and from such a small duration of WOT i required a second opinion...

this one suggests it may be in better condition, maybe, though the price seems pretty strong: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/classifieds/2183010.h...

what the hell is through load?

[g3org3y]

Both look like genuine M3s.

dylan0451 said:

what the hell is through load?

Coupes had fold down rear seats iirc.

Saloons had the option of a ski hatch, not sure if this was also on the coupe and could be what the seller means.

[chippy17]

dylan0451 said:

here's our car in question: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/classifieds/2292765.h...

i didn't notice whether it had red needles or an oil temp where the mpg normally is - the only time i looked at the dash was upon realising the scenery was going past rather quickly, and from such a small duration of WOT i required a second opinion...

this one suggests it may be in better condition, maybe, though the price seems pretty strong: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/classifieds/2183010.h...

what the hell is through load?

on paper the first one looks nice, ok price as long as they sort the rust properly

second IMO is way over priced for a 3 litre car, how about an Evo for the same price:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2259085.htm

[htid]

Agreed, both look genuine from the photos, that evo looks pretty nice too

[monthefish]

paoloh said:

Not all M3s came with spoiler.

I remember a photo of a yellow one in a 1994 issue of What Car Magazine (it was on their short list of their performance car of the year or something) and it didn't have one.

Was it early cars that didn't have them?
(Is that the same with the sunflower wheels i.e. early cars?)

[dylan0451]

chippy17 said:

on paper the first one looks nice, ok price as long as they sort the rust properly

second IMO is way over priced for a 3 litre car, how about an Evo for the same price:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2259085.htm

i may be misinformed, but, my take is that the earlier ones are more bulletproof, if a little slower older and with an analogue climate. from what i read, on the 3.0's the 5 speed boxes are stronger than the evo's, and the vanos tends not to go pop. at least, as often maybe i am wrong, it just seems that that small increase in performance of the evo has the possibility to cost.

does the double vanos help much toward economy, on long m road trips etc.?

going to see this one tomorrow: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2183010.htm

i agree i think it's way overpriced. maybe, if it just happens to be absolutely mint, not a hint of showing it's age i'd offer £5500 but after viewing the first one, i'm not holding my breath.

[Fox-]

If you cant tell it isn't a 328i without a badge on the back to tell you it's an M3 are you really sure you are going to get enough out of the car to justify the fact it's going to be a massive moneypit?

[rottie102]

dylan0451 said:

chippy17 said:

on paper the first one looks nice, ok price as long as they sort the rust properly

second IMO is way over priced for a 3 litre car, how about an Evo for the same price:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2259085.htm

does the double vanos help much toward economy, on long m road trips etc.?

I don't think vanos makes any difference in these circumstances, but 6spd vs 5spd definitely does...